Essay --

Relative Strength and weaknesses of modeling, simulation and prototyping. Strengths: †¢ It helps to get an overall structure for a complex system. Creating a model involves the system designer and the clients. Therefore it is suitable to have an idea of what the end product will turn out to be. †¢ Modeling and simulation allows the designers to compute values for different inputs which is difficult to achieve in the real world. †¢ It is cost effective. If the model and simulations are reliable it cuts down on the money required for testing. Weaknesses: †¢ In making a model the requirements of the client or the main problem to be addressed may be misplaced. †¢ The models and simulations may not be accurate in all conditions in reality. †¢ The models can be too simplistic to solve problems involving complex problems †¢ Designers may over rely on models on simulations than actual testing. Problematic assumptions in modelling, simulation and prototyping: One the examples I would like to point out is the flight which crashed on August 16th 1987, the plane was a Mc Donnell Douglous MD-80 operated by the Northwest Airlines. The reason for the crash according to the NTSB was that the aircraft was not set up for take-off properly by the crew due to failure in adhering to the pre-flight checklist. [1] Another factor which contributed to the mishap was the failure of the flight takeoff warning system which did not indicate to the flight crew that the flight was improperly set up for takeoff. This failure of the takeoff system was due to the loss in power to the warning system due to circuit failure. Why is this a simulation error? It is because in the flight simulator this warning system flashed a light when the system was down but in the actual ... ...ight budget and timeframe, this led to engineers relying more on models and simulations than actual testing. Models like the Radar-terrain interaction and Dynamical control effects of pulse-mode propulsion were not properly validated due budget constraints. This reliance on software models and simulations may have caused the MPL to be destroyed. These tools can be used but their limitations should also be known. In order to minimize these failures a decisive decision should be taken early in the development stages by experts and experienced system architects and engineers this will minimize the errors made in the finishing stages. Risk assessment should be carried out whenever analysis are based on models and simulations without being validated by actual testing. This will help reduce the over reliance on models and simulations by the engineers. [4] References: 1.